9/9/15

Cannes Buzz: GREEN ROOM

Do you like movies about punk rock bands?

Of course you do. Everyone does! (Or else, I may have a hard time remaining friends with you, sorry.)Blue Ruin director Jeremy Saulnier has returned with one of the most shocking and violent films to hit the big-screens this TIFF season, Green Room, starring Anton Yelchin, Macon Blair Patrick Stewart, Imogen Poots and several others. Alongside our own excitement, here's a little post-Cannes buzz for this exciting thriller.

From Jason Gorber at Indiewire:

"When writer-director Jeremy Saulnier's sophomore feature Blue Ruin debuted at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, it caused quite the stir. While much of that tense genre exercise stunned audiences, the finale hit a sour note with its Wild Bunch-style orgy of violence that felt like an aimless, cacophonous rampage.

It's all the more heartening, then, that in almost every way Saulnier has upped his game with Green Room, his bloody, impressive follow-up.

This movie also borrows from Peckinpah's school of dark revenge, but this time recalls the likes of the more sordid Straw Dogs. However, this isn't simply some pastiche drawn from different movies to yield a collage of references, but rather very much its own film, and a remarkable one at that."

"Billed as Jeremy Saulnier's follow-up to the impressive indie Blue Ruin, Green Room takes the intensity on display in that film and ratchets it up by a few million dollars. The extra money is all on the screen. With a larger cast, bigger sets and set pieces, and a hell of a lot more special effects makeup, Green Room is every bit the follow-up that fans of Blue Ruin have been hoping for."

"No one becomes a sudden hero and Saulnier's cliché averse script doesn't allow for a deus ex machina to come and save the day. Perhaps one revelation from the darker, gloomier Blue Ruin is how funny the film is: from the pranks and jokes of a band on the road - recognisable to anyone with even a passing experience of live music - to the throwaway lines and absurd situations that pepper the later scenes. Scary and funny by turns, Green Room has the potential to become a cult hit, with a genuine midnight movie appeal, and furthers the growing reputation of this young director."